The Angels have acquired left-hander Brad Mills from the Blue Jays for Jeff Mathis, reports Mike DiGiovanna of The Los Angeles Times (on Twitter). Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports first reported that the two sides were on the verge of a deal (all Twitter links).
Mills, 26, was the Jays' fourth round pick in 2007. He's seen time in the big leagues in each of the last three seasons, pitching to a 8.57 ERA with 8.4 K/9 and 5.4 BB/9 in 48 1/3 innings spread across nine starts and five relief appearances. In 354 innings at the Triple-A level, he's posted a much more respectable 4.32 ERA with 7.8 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9.
Mathis, 28, is a non-tender candidate, especially after the Halos acquired Chris Iannetta from the Rockies. He's hit a miserable .193/.245/.282 in 771 plate appearances over the last three seasons while throwing out 24.7% of attempted basestealers. Our projections have him earning $1.8MM next season if does survive the non-tender deadline.
Another coach gets traded… Oh wait.
When I saw the headline, I thought the Astros finally decided to ditch Brad Mills.
I can’t imagine this being part of a larger deal, he’s waiver fodder.
Future headline. “Jeff Mathis, another Angels castoff catcher is having a MVP year with the Jays” Can’t you just see this happening in the steps of Mike Napoli?
Except that Napoli knows what that piece of wood in his hand is used for. Mathis is allergic to maple I think.
Please be Trout
lol
Jays acquire Peter Bourjos and Mike Trout for Brad Mills.
Jeff Mathis, what? Why?
Because the Jays don’t have a backup catcher and Brad Mills will probably never amount to anything.
every backup catcher alive is better than jeff mathis. he is worth nothing and was a non-tender candidate
Brad Mills is also worth nothing. If you trade nothing for nothing did a trade even happen at all?
Mathis will get at least $1.8M, hardly “nothing”.
No reason to get upset over this trade it’s insignifant
Most back up catchers can’t hit.
that’s the point. even though that’s true, every backup catcher alive is still better than jeff mathis
so every back up catcher is better defensively than mathis, because thats what he was brought in for. i thought his manager was in love with him for his defence
his manager was in love with him for his defense. but his defense isn’t actually that good. there are better options left and a right
and “can’t hit” is just a threshold. there are several levels of awful and jeff mathis is the worst one
so he is to batting what mills is to pitching, no big deal, neither one is worth anything
Mathis costs $1.8M. Mills costs barely anything (as a minor leaguer)
and thats where he will stay, in the minors.
so you’re fine with paying 1.8M for a useless player? (because that’s what Mathis is)
so you’re fine with paying 1.8M for a useless player? (because that’s what Mathis is)
This is the same manager that started Mathis over Napoli.
I don’t know about you but I saw a great defensive catcher during the WS AND he could hit.
I agree with that notion. Such an overrated manager. Napoli turned into maybe the best catcher in baseball last year.
“Every backup catcher alive is better than Jeff Mathis”
Excuse me, son. Koyie Hill would like a word with you.
drew butera is the only challenger
David Ross?
Seriously? I’ll flip you Mathis for Ross right now – deal?
Rene Rivera posted the worst wOBA and wRC+ of any catcher with at least 100 PA.
boston should trade felix dobrount for him
this evens out the wells trade.
Exactly.
Terrible for terrible!
and finally the other shoe drops from last year’s wells trade. AA was to owe a biiig favor sometime in the next year … and now he has to take jeff “225” mathis
.225 is being generous.
That’s his OBP.
Yeah but remember how awesome he was a couple years ago in the playoffs, I think it was against Boston? Doubles everywhere, man. That’s gotta be good for a 3-5 year contract somewhere, the man is a star waiting for the right team.
-S. Boras
He is probably out floating that same pipe dream ATM for his other FA catcher Varitek….
Yeah, right. Just like Brandon Wood.
He’s perfect for a 2nd or 3rd catcher, can fill in as a capable defensive guy. That’s about it.
oops, didn’t see the S Boras sigh, lol.
Mathis replaces an old Jose Molina that can’t hold a candle to Mathis defensively. Anyone watching Molina running to the back stop every game for passed balls, or just missing them completely with his glove isn’t upset he is gone. Mathis is only 28, not 38 and who knows what could happen. He could very easily turn into the Napoli of 2012, which I’m sure would really get Angels fans upset. lol. Brad Mills was useless when they obtained him, while they had him, and is still useless after they traded him. At least Mathis will back up Arencibia in the majors until D’Arnaud is ready. If Mills makes it to triple A, that will be a major accomplishment in his life. The majors, a dream he has, unless all four starters are injured in Los Angeles. Mills was the Jays Jeff Mathis and all we can do is wish him success in new surroundings.
– by every metric available, molina is better than mathis defensively
– brad mills was a top 10 organizational prospect with the jays
– brad mills already made it to triple-A, where he’s pitched the last three seasons
– you just suggested mathis, the worst hitter in the world with no offensive skills whatsoever, “could very easily turn into the napoli of 2012”
leave and never come back
Almost 27 years old and even close to top ten are you sure you know anything about the jays? Mathis isn’t good but would you rather jaloman or whatever his name is
he was the #6 (or #8) prospect just two seasons ago. he has underperformed in AAA since then but is by no means worthless
the choice isn’t mathis or jeroloman. it’s mathis or any of dozens of backup catchers in baseball. they’re all better than mathis and all cost less
to be fair, when mills was top 10 the jays farm system was bottom 3 in the league..
its a puzzlying move because really giving up anything for mathis is just plain weird, but having seen mills in new hampshire, vegas and toronto, I can safely say his ceiling is the guy you put in right before you ask a position player to pitch.
that being said, getting anything back for mathis is a win, even if toronto had sent a corpse to LA.
it’s not a big mistake by any stretch of the imagination. what’s turned into a big deal is the fact that many jays fans can’t even admit that it’s a small one
i don’t think mills is quite as bad as you say, but at least you’ve got the rest of it right
you should have shown up earlier. this was a trade everyone should have had a laugh at and moved on. instead i was inundated with the kind of homer derp i am used to hearing from sox fans
to be fair, I’m not trying to rationalize the trade. I would have said the same thing about mills yesterday. I hate the trade.. not because we gave up mills, but because I might actually go to a game where Jeff Mathis is in a jays uniform..
No one should care that we gave up mills, but jays fans should be concerned that we brought in mathis.
really really really concerned.
you are an upgrade over jeff mathis. time to try out
they should trade farrell to the red sox. and then call up sal fasano to be a player manager.
win.
LHP ‘Mills was a top 10 prospect…’
Any MLB C/Most MiLB Cs > Jeroloman/Mathis
Therefore Mills/half btl Chacin Cologne > Mathis
Brad Mills as a top 10 jays prospect? thats really funny, not in the top 30, Mills pitches the ball at a speed of 86 MPH, he is a AAAA player, the only reason why we got Mathis is for defense and to help some of the young pitchers, I have never personally watch Mathis play, I know everyone calls him awful and are probably right, but we are talking about 80-100 ABS here, he is a backup, I don’t know about anyone else here, but I am ok with this trade.
WAS. RTFC.
P.S…That was when Toronto had no prospects. Mills is no longer and hasn’t been a prospect for a couple of years.
yes, i remember reading that in several of the comments i wrote
Thats interesting!!
You are a joke. If you knew anything at all, people might take you seriously. The highest Mills ever got was tenth and that was back when the Jays had the 28th worst minors system in baseball. He was ranked 30th at the time of the trade or a drop of 20 spots. I was being sarcastic about Mathis, but you don’t understand that, because you live to attack others that possess more knowledge about baseball in our little finger than you do your whole body. When you learn respect, perhaps you will actually shut up and learn something from fans that have followed the game for over fifty years. Just an FYI, but I couldn’t care less about sabermetrics. I watch the games and form opinions from actually watching the players live. I don’t need a stats geek trying to justify their own opinions, which are wrong 10 times out of 10.
is there are a reason you’re talking about sabermetrics? settle down sandy and enjoy the links below with mills in the top 10
this is the fourth factual error in two comments i’ve corrected for you. you may have forgotten more than i’ll ever learn, but there doesn’t seem to be anything you can accurately remember at this point
“WATCH THE GAME, NERDS”
Automatic response to stat-based arguments.
“WATCH THE GAME, NERDS”
Automatic response to stat-based arguments.
Who lied to you? Brad Mills isn’t a top 30 prospect any more and never was in the Top 10.
(#8)
http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/rankings/organization-top-10-prospects/2010/269273.html
(#6)
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/toronto-blue-jays-top-10-prospects/
You are delusional , and need help Immediately.
Sincerely, Logical Jays fans.
really? Are you really going to try to spin this? Really? It’s jeff freaking mathis.
that makes no sense. Mathis could be non-tendered at any point, and if Mills was the “favor” than trading him for cash (like $10?) could have accomplished that.
well there goes that very serious theory. well done
Great trade for the Angels. Obviously ridding themselves of Mathis is nice, and if Mills is going to succeed anywhere, it will be on a team where he has Mike Trout and Peter Bourjos behind him in the outfield.
mike scioscia is crying himself to sleep
AA teh geniuz!!1!1
Just think… You guys passed up Mike Napoli last year, and now you’re stuck with Jeff Mathis! Haha, at least he’s a decent catcher though, still a good trade.
Better then being stuck with Vernon Wells.
That’s going to be the go-to answer from now (or, heck, last season) until the end of Vernon Wells’ albatross contract. And, that doesn’t make it any less true.
Uhmmm…didn’t Phillies also pass up on Napoli last year? Surely, Phillies could have offered more than Frank Francisco. Passing up on Napoli probably cost Phils a trip to World Series. Didn’t cost Jays anything. Besides, Travis D’Arnaud will soon be catching for Jays.
What use did the Phillies have of Napoli going into this year?
About the same use as Blue Jays.
what frank gave us post all star break was much needed plus a draft pick for loss of him if he doesnt resign in addition to the pick molina nets and the need for maybe one season of mathis (maybe less if d’arnaud continues ripping it) for a pitcher that is finesse and wont crack our lineup. was a couple of well calculated moves. mathis will provide what is needed. a break here and there for aaron cibia while providing our young staff confidence he can block a ball.
just saying: napoli was passed up for a reason and everyone gained. well rangers and bjs at least.
Didn’t know Jeff Mathis was a credible source for rumours….
Jeff Mathis is more a source of anguish or humor to Angels fans. In this case, it is a source of relief.
Fair enough. Doubt he’ll catch very many innings though.
Too funny…fans using the backup catcher as their scapegoat.
I suddenly have a strange feeling that Mathis will have a break out season next year.
Canadian health care is better.
He’ll manage to hit above .220?
That strange feeling you’re having, it’s called having a stroke…
Yeah I don’t
Wishful thinking: In theory, Jeff Mathis is still a non-tender candidate if the Jays can find a better backup option this week. Mills was likely to come off the 40-man at some point this offseason anyways.
more realistically, anthopolous couldn’t get anyone to talk trades with him this offseason because of the reputation he’s developed. he did this deal so that GMs will take his calls again
You mean like Texas and St.Louis?
haha…I believe there is something to your statement. But, there is merit to what @bringvottohome said. IMO, Brad Mills was going to be off the 40-man roster by January because of transactions. He doesn’t fit into Jays plans for their 25-man roster and is out of optional assignments. Jeff Mathis is simply an upgrade to Brian Jeroloman who was the “fall back” plan for backup catcher.
jeff mathis is not an upgrade to anything though. and even if he were, he was going to be non-tendered and could have been signed without giving anything up
So…true…Jays didn’t have anything in place for backup catcher. But, I get your point on the non-tender part. Was AA simply dumb or just doing Angels a favour on this deal?
jerolman probably would have been better
Interesting point and why was wondering no interest in Shoppach over this guy.
Doubt Mathis is Plan A for backup catcher…probably a fall-back option if other deals don’t work out.
maybe they just want him for vegas??
have some arms moving up there, may need a veteran presence to make sure they dont go nuts in sin city
this is ofcourse made up and wishful thinking
omg no
Texas must want Mathis, so they are going to get him from the jays for a reliver again!
All joking aside tho, Mathis is probably the back up catcher with J.P. Arencibia starting.
Yeah, of course. Anthopoulos had said recently that they expect Arencibia to catch the vast majority of games. Assuming Arencibia stays healthy, Mathis probably only starts 30 games or so. If Arencibia’s out for any prolonged time, Travis d’Arnaud probably gets called up for the starters job.
haha that was funny and both you and @bringvottohome summed it up correctly.
Jeff Mathis… The next Jose Bautista.
Jeff Mathis confirmed for .300 BA with .450 OBP and 50+ HR.
His slugging% next year will be higher than his OPS this year by atleast 100 points.
and 28 free passes from the other teams.
Lol Jeff Mathis. Now the Blue Jays get stuck with a player they hate after giving them the gift that keeps on giving (Wells).
I guess he fits the role of a defensive backup, but will they rework his contract??
he could be a solid bullpen catcher
or there CC(Closing Catcher)
*Crap Catcher
No he is very good defensively and he makes pitchers ERA go down.Blue Jays have a very great catcher
I’m suprised you would think that, since you want Salmon to be the coach, and not scioscia
That was sarcasm btw and i love Mike wouldn’t want Salmon to replace him..My name is so he can be the Angels new Hitters coach..I want Salmon to be coach over Hatcher.. sorry for the misunderstanding
How can you be “stuck” with a one-year contract?
Also, I have to give a lot of credit to the Angels GM thus far, his name is escaping me. He took a glaring weakness and addressed it quickly, and replaced one pitching prospect (Chatwood) with Mills who is probably just as good, for a guy they were going to non-tender. Their fans should be impressed, he is playing this much better than Reagins ever could.
Dipoto, and yes i agree he has been excellent so far.
I’ve been impressed with Dipoto so far and I don’t think it’s fair to even begin judging the man until after next season.
Chatwood still has plenty of promise, Mills doesn’t show anything special in 3 years beyond double-A as far as stats. Give him credit for getting Ianetta, a better compromise of offense and defense, but he’s only under team control for one year and Chatwood could turn out to be a quality starter who is under control for another 6 years.
The Angels and Iannetta are working on a contract extension
The key word here is “could.” There is absolutely no guarantee that Chatwood is a sure thing and while I understand your argument that the Angels could control him for 6 years as opposed to 1 with Iannetta, Dipoto had to give up something to get something and the trade market for catchers is weak.
Yep….solid moves by Angels GM. Upgrades talent while controlling salary costs. Ianetta salary shows you type of value they place on these players.
Good deal for both sides.
Good trade. Mills wasn’t going to stay on the 40 Man Roster and the Jays needed a backup catcher after Molina signed in Tampa…
Jeroloman may have no experience but he is superior defensively.
Jeroloman’s 9 error’s last season would like a word with you…
Lol errors. Good one.
Thanks. Unless that guy watches Las Vegas on a regular basis it means about as much.
omg 9 errors????
he should totally quit baseball
lol
You missed it.
He threw out 15% of the runners last season.
Jeroloman’s only value are his two remaining seasons of optional assignments. This makes him a backup to the backup. D’Arnaud most likely gets called up to start if Arencibia ever gets injured and placed on the DL.
A guy who threw out 15% of batters last year? Certainly superior defensively!
a nothing for nothing trade. Angels need to sign CJ!
So the Angels are sending a catcher to the Jays for the second straight year. Wonder if JD will bring him to the Rangers for the second straight year as well.
Oh wait no…..
what is this i don’t even
I get Miguel Olivo for the draft pick, but I really don’t get this one unless you somehow save some money by trading Mills. Would anyone seriously tender Mathis a contract in arbitration, especially AA of all people?
Jeff Mathis is awful… he makes molina seem like Jose Bautista, how can this even be a possible trade for the blue jays unless mathis is part of a bigger deal? He hits worse than a pitcher and is somehow on a major league roster, these catcher deals seem to be befuddling AA
Part of a bigger deal? For Brad Mills a guy that’s even worse than Mathis..This was just a w/e you can get for Mathis situation.. and Jerry is making miracles.can’t believe someone wanted him
simple answer here. Jays have a guy in the minors Travis D’arnaud, who was the MVP of their AA team. He will be called up to majors shortly and the Jays likely didn’t want to commit to anyone of the existing crop of free agent catchers. This is a stop gap move that rids Jays of a pitcher that was never going to join their major league rotation.
“commit” to a backup catcher? what are you even
and acting like mills was some sort of burden they had to get rid of? totally grasping at straws
Do you really think a free agent catcher would want to sign a one year deal to move to Canada without playing time? That’s what he’s “even”…
Mills was no burden, but he’s still never going to cut it at the MLB level… 85 MPH fastballs get eaten up by highschool kids…
you mean like jose molina did just two years* ago? you guys are delusional
The MVP of the whole Eastern League*
I stand corrected, but yeah, he’s the player most likely to boot Mathis from the active roster.
Angels get revenge on the Blue Jays! Finally!
Dipoto>AA.
Hallelujah!!!
If thats what you wanna call it. Guess if it makes Angels fans feel better we’ll send you our non-tender AAA pitcher for a backup catcher (who’ll only see a handful of games). Sounds like a fair deal to me. Neither will probably amount to much.
Dude, you guys brought in Jeff Mathis. JEFF MATHIS. Anyway you shake this one, the Angels win. Jeff Mathis no longer curses this team, he’s your problem now.
Yeah, but at the spacious Rogers Centre he’ll hit .300 and 25hr…….Who cares!!! B A C K U P C A T C H E R
You guys got an awful pitcher for someone who at least contributes at the MLB level…
Hard to see what’s so exciting about that.
Mathis will have a proper role to fill in Toronto, and Mills will never make it as a MLB pitcher – so it’s a LOSE-LOSE trade – both guys suck.
Jeff Mathis, next ALMOST world series MVP
This will be a game changer !!
nothing preventing a non-tender/resign at reasonable contract, i assume. i’m sure there weren’t other teams beating down dipoto’s door begging for mathis’ services.
You mean other than its Canada?
still probably beats playing in venezuela full-time.
Oh…oh my.
TWO Christmases this year?! THANK YOU DIPOTO CLAUSE.
In related news, I just negotiated a trade for a half full can of Fresca in exchange for three Lifesavers with my neighbor. But as a Halos fan, I’m happy for this. Lot better to get SOMETHING than just non-tender Jeffy. I like Dipoto thus far.
Jays can look at it the same way with Mills being on the verge of getting DFA’d.
He’s like the ghost of Jose Molina.
i didnt like mills anyway
Then you really won’t like Mathis.
They are going to flip Mathis somewhere for a different minor leaguer…this deal was just to say thank you for taking VW last season…
Right, because transactions are driven by sympathy…
Ty Jerry..Better to get someone than get rid of him nice trade..and making some great trades so far
It really speaks to how much we all miss baseball when everyone is jumping all over this post about a AAA lefty for a middling backup catcher. Is it February yet?
Well, I’m glad that Mathis is gone. It had to be done. Otherwise, Scioscia would make him the starting catcher again.
Yes, the Blue Jays do owe the Angels for taking on Vernon Wells contract. This helps.
Wait….does this make things even? Let’s say yes so we can move on.
Love the fact that a Mills/Mathis entry has twice as many comments as the Wilson/Oswalt/Red Sox post beneath it.
I knew the Angels wouldn’t get anything great for Mathis but Dipoto said he looks to add pitching depth. Just getting rid of Mathis is superb.
This makes it two straight yrs that the angels trade a catcher to the blue jays.first it was Napoli in the Wells trade and know Mathis in this trade 4 Mills
Where AA misjudged was counting on EE to become a Type B free agent. As a result, he picked up the team option. However, EE doesn’t fit into the long term plans. I doubt Napoli would have either.
* edit * looks like reply is failing on disqus
I’m not sure I see your point about EE. He could have just as easily declined the option and eaten the buyout. He now has an asset (to some) that can be traded, or used as a 1B/DH/3B(dear god no)/LF(?) with some power for 2012.
Yep…I am seeing him as a combination of place holder & trade asset for this season. If things work out, one of the young players pushes EE aside. I just wasn’t as explicit as you in summing up his current value. However, IMO, if things worked to plan, EE would have been a Type B free agent by now.
Today is a great day for all Angels fans!!!!!
Trading Mathis + Chatwood for Iannetta + Mills is a net gain of 2.6 WAR. This is another trade of probable non-impact players, but overall a net gain for Jerry Dipoto so far. I like the moves.
Speaking strictly from a WAR standpoint Mathis better then Mills.
I thought the Blue Jays wanted a high on base percentage.
why are there so many comments on a trade that has so little meaning
Because we love the Jays and Halos! Remember their last trade?
I can’t believe a trade involving a backup catcher for a minor league pitcher has warranted over 100 comments.
yeah, but most of the comments are useless observations like the one you just made!
Good observation Sherlock! With this superior level of observation, maybe you could learn grammar now.
Two scrubs!
So glad you’re back!!!
two guys who probably weren’t going to be with there team again next year anyways just swapped. I like it, especially since we got a pitcher and pitchers usually tend to do a little better in our ball park. so at best we might have gotten a new mop up role guy. just feel bad for scoscia, not sure how the long distance thing is going to work for him =(
If this trade fell in a forest, would anybody hear?
The Jays should have kept Napoli why did they trade him?
Because their catcher is Canadian. End of story.
HAHAHAHAHA That’s embarassing.
If you’re going to troll, at least be right about something.
who’s Canadian?
LMAO
They didn’t really have a spot to play him. He would have just DHed for them, which didn’t project as the best use of his value. (Turns out he had more offensive value then anyone expected).
That sound you hear is Angels’ fans tap dancing in the streets. While this trade looks insignificant to most non-Angels fans, it is actually more important than it seems. Now, Sosh can’t play Mathis everyday, no matter how badly he wants to. We will likely never have to witness Mathis in the lineup again. This is a huge day for the Angels indeed.
If The Angels had anyone that could hit last year Angels fans probably wouldnt be so hard on their catcher. Also theres probably some resentment for Reagans giving up their other catcher Napoli. If I was an Angels fan I’d be pissed taking on Wells contract and giving up Napoli too.
That is all pretty much true, and we all ARE pissed about trading Napoli and taking on Wells’ contract. The only good that came out of that was that Reagins was finally fired.
I’m not a fan of this trade, but theres another aspect people are forgetting.
Morrow.
When Mathis and Napoli were with the Angels pitchers had a 3.99 ERA with Mathis, and a 4.75 ERA with Napoli. Mathis is good with pitchers.
He will be Morrows private pitcher. Maybe get 2 in 5 starts with Morow and whoever breaks the team as the jays 5th starter. Then late in the year if the rotation looks good he goes to 1 game in 5 (just Morrow).
I still don’t like the trade, but I’m sure the pitcher factor played a role.
Arencibia is the one who will make this interesting. His first year in AAA his OPS was 728, and his second year it was 985.
His first year in the bigs was 720
I see a sophomore slump coming though. Don’t forget he struck out a ton, and had a 282 OBP last year. Pitchers might have him figured out.
In other news, the Jays and Angels swap managers too. Mike Scioscia will be managing the Jays.
You’re not thinking this through.
damn. the biggest story this offseason! two minor league players being traded? Both players just needed a change in there environment. Lets see what else Dipoto brings to anaheim.
I don’t think anyone’s mentioned this; but Brad Mills throws no harder than 87 MPH… his avg. fastball velocity was 85.2… My average fastball is 80-84 MPH, and I play Canadian college ball…
This is his velocity chart for the fastball over the last 3 years over varying MLB apperances: http://www.fangraphs.com/fgraphs/4420_P_FA_20110913.png
As you can see, it’s declined in each of the previous two years.
His curve is nasty, but is inconsistent, and he has a tendency for hanging changeups…
Mills will get eaten alive.
Same could be said about mathis. He has some positves but he has glaring negatives. If the angels didnt have the rotation they have now and they were relying on Brad Mills too fill in a spot, then I could see it being a problem for the halos.
But Farrel isn’t retarded, and won’t play Mathis as a starter; if you look at Jose Molina before he played with the Jays he was coming of a season of .217, and .216 prior to that; on the Angels, Mathis’ negatives outweigh the positives, but on the Jays, he’ll fit in to a role where he was needed, and the positives should shine through.
true and thats why he needed to be traded. The halos gave up on him because he wasnt shinning here and now with the addition of Innieta there is no room for him. The way Scoisca uses his catchers they are never givin an oppurtinity to shine. As an angels fan i would like to see Mathis succeed, hes a solid catcher.
They will stop at nothing to defend their greek god… it’s getting pretty bad.
I agree its embaressing as a Jays fan , and i love whats AA’s done so far but getting Mathis is just never a positive thing. Not to say Mills could bring anything else back that better considering both have 0 value , but still id rather have just let Jeroloman back up, and thats saying something lol
Mathis is likely plan B for the backup catcher position.
I’m not so sure he is… guess we’ll have to wait and see unfortunately.
Hahaha i jsut woke up from my nap and seen this, truly a grabage for garbage trade if i ever saw one. But hell 220 some odd comments on a Mathis for Mills swap LOL? We sure do love our Blue Jays and Angels news!!!
And it seems like half of them are from you.
Im trying to spread some logic, its tough. My fellow Jays fans( albeit the dumb ones) are actually finding ways , somehow to think they “won” this trade because he’ll only be a backup, its boggles my mind how no one can understand a lose lose trade if they ever saw one.
What makes you think he’ll make the team?
Hey, Mr. Nicely-Nicely, it appears you’re an old-age pensioner like I am. So you and I are the only ones on here who absolutely know that the only sure way of not making a mistake is by taking a nap.
Those 220 posts are an indication that most of us need to get a life.
Have a good one!
Napoli at 6-8mil for a few years means no need to sign anybody for 1B/DH. Jays get a draft pick though… sigh.
In what world is a Brad Mills for Jeff Mathis swap grounds for 300 comments? This is so trivial that I would not even consider it news
and you’ve just added to it
Welcome to the party
Here’s one more
Pennypincher? Er, is that you, Alex?
Dipoto did more than just trade Jeff Mathis with this move. He proved that he’s in charge of the team’s operations, not Mike Scioscia. I’ll never understand Scioscia’s man crush on Mathis but if Scioscia had any say, Mathis would still be an Angel.
Both Gm’s probably farted and this is what happened , a Mills for Mathis swap.
So, Angels fans are loving this. “Mathis is your problem now” they say. Well, ya, he would be a big problem if he was going to be our starting catcher, but that isn’t the case. He was brought here to back-up JP and start around 30 games. Just because he sucks as an everyday player, doesn’t mean he will be a write-off as a back up. I make this trade 10 times outta 10 if I’m AA. I like this deal as it gets us a BACKUP catcher that we’ve been looking for and we give up pretty much nothing in a guy that will be a career minor leaguer or below average reliever at best. Now, how about some REAL trades AA?
Dont try and make yourself feel better just because Angel fans are happy hes gone, theres usually a reason for that. Nobody won this trade there were only losers, Mathis is atrocious, Mills is atrocious , thats as far as the discussion needs to go.
nobody cares just sayin…
Hell Im better then Mathis Angels should have done this last year and kept Naps Whats Scioscia gonna do know since he was had a man crush on Mathis
Watch Cito Gaston & Dwayne Murphy are gonna rework his mechanics. Mathis WILL hit 30 HRs next year.
You WILL need to stop smoking ice.
Best post of the day! Yes! Mathis will slam 30 HR’s minimum. And Arencibia will hit 90. And Bo 190. Our average game runnage should exceed 15.
Our ship has finally arrived! God bless you, Alex Anthopoulos. If you’re not Geezus, you got to be some kind of important saint at least. A performer of miracles!
Fellas, would you please get down on your knees with me here. Thanks, eh. Now we’re all going to seriously worship Alex Anthopoulos for half an hour. I’ll start it off. And remember, when I pause for breath, shout “Amen!” at the top of your lungs, please.
” Our Unorthodox Greek Saint…which art in Skydome…Hallowed be thy……”
I was just kidding. It was feces for fecal matter trade.
What? It was colonic waste for defecated dung, you say? Well shut my mouth. That’s fantastic news! Thanks, eh.
I was worried that the culture shock of leaving fourth place might play havoc with the workings of my intestines and perhaps even adversely effect my entire digestive system.
Fried, you’ll be in our hearts and prayers for the rest of the day. No doubt about it.
lol, thanks!
atleast they got someone to catch brandon morrow
Yeah, that’s why he started getting absolutely shelled the 2nd or 3rd go around, the catcher.
Hah! There goes the last example for all AA haters. He just traded crap (LOL brad mills; is he a manager or a pitcher wtf) for Jeff Mathis. Jeff. ****ing. Mathis. Mike Napoli, 2011 Rangers WAR leader was traded away because he simply could not compete with Jeff Mathis. Now AA got a true beast of a catcher for scraps and the Angels and Rangers are both screwed. LOL!
Hoping this is sarcasm… otherwise your just embarrassing Jays fans. Please god make it stop, We are all not this “challenged”!
no thats def sarcasm
If you can’t tell it’s sarcasm, well, take a look in the mirror if you want to view “challenged” in the flesh.
I thought the “is he a manger or a pitcher wtf” thing made it obvious. And i’m a Red Sox fan…
This was a retaliation move on the part of the Angels for the awful Wells trade. Ha! Take that Toronto!
Smh… It was Mathis for a pitching version of Mathis, lets be real here. This is a horrible trade for both , and if the Jays play Mathis as a back up then the Jays lose a tad more in this trade. Simple as that. Brutal Brutal trade..for both teams.
I love how Angels fans think they won this just because Mathis is so awful…
Newsflash, Mills is worse.
Even MATHIS could hit him 😉
Nobody is worse then Mathis , and im Jays fan. Stop letting there happiness anger you into trying to justify this trade, its horrendous , use your logic, Mathis is Atrocious , Mills is atrocious, but that doesnt mean we should want Mathis for Mills! I would have rathered Jeroloman backup Lol
Mills was going to be DFA’d anyway. No way AA pays Mathis $2MM.
What was the purpose for trading for him then?… If Mills was going to be dfa’d , why not just DFA him and not trade for Mathis if you weren’t going to pay for him?… seems kind of pointless doesn’t it?
Can Mathis superbly “handle” a pitching staff? That’s likely a catcher’s most important task. The expert commentators on here either haven’t considered it or just haven’t bothered to ask the question.
If the answer is “so-so,” then Jeroloman should be backing up Arencibia.
Our happiness is that “something” came back….we would have been happy even if he was non tendered so getting Mills is even a +
Okay, this is getting ridiculous. some people really seem to not understand that Mathis has a case for worst hitting position player of ALL TIME. Of ALL TIME. Even if he only plays 20 games in a Jays uni, it’s still a loss for them because of his $1.8M salary and his general terribleness.
haha, this is the funniest trade i’ve seen yet. mills of the 85mph fastball and bad control, and mathis of the unequaled suckage at the plate.
i guess AA wants practically no one standing in d’arnaud’s way for a midseaon callup. either that or they have some way of evaluating catcher defense that goes way beyond what us fans can do.
by the way fangraphs has mathis throwing out 33% of runners over the past 3 years, not 25%. unless my math sucks.
I can’t wait to read what Lyle Spencer writes up about his man crush Mathis.
I really hope they are bringing him in to go to Vegas.
We can only hope… *Sigh
even if he is back up in the majors for us he will bomb and get sent down lol
This motivates me to buy my mini plan…. I vowed not to go to any games if Mathis was the catcher or shared any time at the position.
Heh. I find this immensely pleasurable given the massive groupthink orgy that’s been showing AA with “Best GM EVAR” praise for the last year. When you made a trade for someone and the best possible outcome for said trade is “instantly non-tendering aforementioned acquired player,” that trade really doesn’t need to be made. It’s not necessarily bad – Mills isn’t going to amount to much but a possible middle reliever, after all – but paying Mathis anything, not to mention $1.8MM, to be on a big-league roster when he doesn’t belong on one is not worth it. The dude had a 26 wRC+ last year. 26!!!!!! Hope Arencibia’s ready for a 150-game season.
Both teams got garbage that doesn’t belong on a major league team. I dont understand your point? Your mad because AA has made lots of quality moves and this non move (albeit a slight Loss in terms of value for the Jays) gives you pleasure? Lol you need a hobby
And one team got garbage that is going to cost $1.8MM and is one of the worst players in the big leagues. The other has an option remaining and won’t have to be on a big-league roster. It’s just a move that, despite the crowning of Anthopoulos as the GM Messiah around the blogosphere, represents a pretty clear net loss for Toronto, causing Jays fans – like, coincidentally enough, you – to go from trying to defend the move to trying to trash those who find humor in it.
Anthopoulos is a great GM, and this obviously does nothing to change that. He could be trying to negotiate with Mathis to get a lower salary for all we know (he would certainly have leverage), and probably knows something that we don’t yet. If Mathis plays 20 games for $750,000 or something like that while offering a good clubhouse presence, there’s reason to believe that this is a solid choice. The humor I find in this isn’t in any sort of ding in Anthopoulos’ abilities to manage his roster – that’s absurd. The humor I find in this is that it puts the “Anthopoulos makes super-awesome-perfect SABR moves all the time that nobody could ever refute” crowd on their heels and makes them needlessly defensive. Thank you for providing Exhibit A into this hilariousness.
What are you writing a novel for? I clearly said this was a loss ( albeit a minor one ) anytime you have Jeff Mathis over anyone , its a loss , im the one laughing at people defending the trade , im also trying to calm angel fans down who think this is a fleecing or something retarded like that , this is a clear lose lose, with a slight edge for the Angels.
Because that’s my writing style.
How is this a lose-lose? The Angels got a warm body for someone below replacement-level who’s owed more than minimum salary. If Mills throws a single pitch for the Angels rather than someone on the waiver wire who is inferior to him as a minor-league depth guy, the Angels benefited from the trade. Toronto could find better options on the waiver wire than Mathis, frankly.
jeez this trade is a lose-lose for both teams
Brad Mills was #7 in 2009 and #8 in 2010.
The Jays were ranked 19th in both 2009 and 2010. The first year of Anthopolous, Blue Jays ranked 4th and Mills was ranked 30th among Jays prospects. That should tell you something.
Mathis had a 26 wRC+ in 2011. That should tell you something.
I did’nt know Toronto had a garbage pick up on Saturdays?
The thing that most everyone isn’t mentioning is that Brad Mills would of rotted in Vegas if he was still with the Jays organisation, and that Jeff Mathis would of been most non-tendered by the Angels. The only thing people are latching on to is the fact that Mills for Mathis is a overpay on the Jays part. Mathis is terrible, but at least Mills could be a serviceable 5th starter on most rotations.
Lets not kid ourselves. Jeff Mathis is a terrible player, and if any other backstops become available it would be likely that Mathis would be let go for bag of balls, but if nothing else does become available, the Jays are at least not scrambling to find a backup with some big league experience.
Adam Lowen was a semi-valuable piece as a AAA player waiting to be called up in an emergency (i.e. Brad Mills) and he was released so he could explore other opportunities because he was to far down the depth charts for regular MLB playing time (i.e. Brad Mills). This trade happened because both players had no place of their respective teams. The Jays got an expendable potential backup for JP and the Angels for a AAA pitcher for call ups.
Exactly. Everyones all over the Bluejays for trading for Mathis where he’s only gonna be JP’s backup.
Farrell’s not stupid enough to put him in the lineup everyday if he’s not capable of being an everyday player but he’s probably quite capable of being a backup with his defence and knowlege of working with the pitchers.
I have a feeling he’ll turn out to be alot better than everyone letting on and maybe needs a change. Who knows, a new hitting coach and enviroment can do wonders. And the Bluejays have a good young group of core guys that all get along. If he gels anythings possible.
I commend AA for this move in ridding one of our worst assets for some depth to get the team through the next year.
Exactly. Everyones all over the Bluejays for trading for Mathis where he’s only gonna be JP’s backup.
Farrell’s not stupid enough to put him in the lineup everyday if he’s not capable of being an everyday player but he’s probably quite capable of being a backup with his defence and knowlege of working with the pitchers.
I have a feeling he’ll turn out to be alot better than everyone letting on and maybe needs a change. Who knows, a new hitting coach and enviroment can do wonders. And the Bluejays have a good young group of core guys that all get along. If he gels anythings possible.
I commend AA for this move in ridding one of our worst assets for some depth to get the team through the next year.
AA is the truth
AA is a ninja assassin
AA just traded for Jeff Mathis
Vernon Wells is going to right himself. Don’t need him to be a superstar. Ianetta is a huge upgrade over Mathis for the Angels. I like Dipoto so far. Next we land Aramis Ramirez, another problem area attacked by our new GM. Another huge upgrade over Macier Izturis. We get C.J. Wilson and Aramis Ramirez and I say watch out the the Halos next year. Toronto will always be an out of contention type team.
Dream on!! Toronto will be better than the Halo’s for years to come!!
PS Enjoy VW and his dicimal stats!!
bwahahaha ..better than the angels???thats alot of load on jose bautista
Vernon Wells is going to right himself. Don’t need him to be a superstar. Ianetta is a huge upgrade over Mathis for the Angels. I like Dipoto so far. Next we land Aramis Ramirez, another problem area attacked by our new GM. Another huge upgrade over Macier Izturis. We get C.J. Wilson and Aramis Ramirez and I say watch out the the Halos next year. Toronto will always be an out of contention type team.
My five-year-old grandson said that this trade was “kaka”. The nerve of that cute little guy. I’m really annoyed with him.
A “kaka trade” is inferred criticism of Alex Anthopoulos. I won’t tolerate that. So I asked my daughter to give him a spanking, but she wouldn’t do it. Then she said I needed professional help.
I guess I must have gone wrong somewhere bringing up my children.
Great trade for Toronto! They got the best defensive catcher in the game.